The typical hospital gown is essentially a sheet with sleeves that is stretched across the patients front (chest and abdomen) and is wrapped around the body.
A common source of stress for hospital patients is occasioned by the patient's desire to maintain modesty and decorum during walks through hospital corridors during his convalescent period.
There is the additional inconvenience of having to pass medicines or devices through openings in the gown such as stethoscopes, medicines and other appurtenances related to his hospitalization.
Typically, the patient is required to open the rear of the gown numerous times during the day and rejoin the ribbons each time.
Numerous disclosures have appeared which are intended to accommodate the needs that the patient encounters on a daily-hourly basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,773 discloses a hospital gown with a large frontal area covered by a flap that is intended to provide access to the chest area of the patient. This gown has the typical back construction where the edges of the sheet wrapped around the chest meet along the back (spinal column).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,295 discloses a garment having a vest-like construction with a pair pockets on each side of the front of the vest. The pockets are designed for holding containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,418,741 discloses a garment including a jacket part and a pants part that is suitable for street wear. The jacket and pants each have pockets for storing containers of liquid according to the medical protocol. Openings in the pocket enable communication of the liquid container with the patient's body.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,424,750 discloses a gown made up of a single front panel and a single back panel. releaseably connected together along a shoulder seam by a row of releaseable connectors. The gown has a connection device that allows opposing sections of the rear panel to be connected together in a location in front of the person wearing the gown. None of these arrangements provide the convenient accessibility combined with protection of privacy to the rear of the patient as provided by the present invention.